This invention generally relates to orange juice which is prepared from juice sources which have not been subjected to procedures which concentrate the juice. In the citrus industry, this type of juice product is known as being a "not from concentrate" juice. More particularly, the invention relates to an improved early season not from concentrate orange juice which consistently exhibits unusually high Color Number values during the time period which is early in the orange fruit bearing or harvest season. The use of orange tree cultivars which exhibit Color Number values significantly different from those of traditional early season round oranges, especially Hamlin round oranges, is an important component of the invention.
One of the problems facing the not from concentrate orange juice industry is the maintenance of a consistent, deep rich orange color throughout the year. This problem is especially difficult during the early fruit-harvesting season of orange trees. It will be appreciated that different varieties or cultivars of orange trees bear harvest-ready fruit at somewhat different times within the overall citrus growing season. In the Northern Hemisphere, traditionally the overall citrus growing season extends between approximately October and June. Generally speaking, Valencia round oranges can be considered to provide a bench mark for orange juice quality, both with respect to analytical properties and sensory properties. Many not from concentrate juices are a blend of freshly squeezed juice with stored juice, which can be stored Valencia juice, for example. Valencia cultivars tend to have a growing season which is in a later portion of the overall round orange harvest season. A typical Valencia season runs between about late February and early June. Other round oranges such as Hamlin oranges are early season harvested for freshly squeezed orange juice, such as during approximately the months of October, November and December. Certain orange cultivars such as Pineapple oranges have a mid-season harvest characteristic, running between about January and early March.
In the not from concentrate juice industry, particularly when Valencia oranges are not yet in season, the freshly squeezed juice component can be one of these earlier maturing varieties. At present, the principal early season variety for providing the freshly squeezed orange juice component is the Hamlin variety. One of the drawbacks of Hamlin round oranges is that a Hamlin round orange crop does not, in general, meet all of the quality standards of Valencia round oranges. One of these relates to color.
Color is a property of juices which can be measured in an objective manner for purposes of evaluating the color acceptability of a particular type of juice. In the case of citrus juices, the industry generally recognizes a parameter referred to as Color Number. Details of color determination, including procedures, equipment and standards, are found in Redd, Hendrix and Hendrix, Quality Control Manual for Citrus Processing Plants, Volume 1: Regulation, Citrus Methodology, Microbiology, Conversion Charts, Tables, Other; 1986; Intercit., Inc., Safety Harbor, Fla. A calorimeter is a primary component of the Color Number determination procedure. Redd et al provides specific calibration information for a variety of such instruments, including HunterLab Model D45, HunterLab Model D45D2, HunterLab LabScan Colorimeter Model LS-5100, MacBeth Color-Eye Colorimeter Model 1500 and Minolta Portable Colorimeter Model Chroma Meter II Reflectants/CR 100.
These objective Color Number data are important components of categorizing single strength orange juice as, for example, Grade A or Grade B juice. A Grade B orange juice has a Color Number of between 32 and 35 CN units. A Grade A orange juice has a Color Number of between 36 and 40 CN units. A high quality not from concentrate orange juice seeks to meet the Grade A standard, although this is not always possible, particularly for the earlier season juices.
In addition, it has come to be appreciated through objective testing that juice color has an important impact on consumer liking of orange juice. Sensory tests which evaluated juice properties concluded that orange juice color intensity is important to consumer acceptance and preference. Generally speaking, consumer liking for orange juice increases as the color becomes darker and more orange. It has been determined that consumers can clearly detect an increase in color of as low as 1 Color Number or Color value unit. The testing included juices having various Color Numbers, ranging between about 34 CN to about 42 CN. Juices having a higher Color Number in a comparison set were chosen as more desirable. Accordingly, it now has come to be appreciated that color intensity is a very important characteristic of orange juice products in general and of not from concentrate orange juice in particular.
Other characteristics also are very important to maintaining or enhancing consumer acceptance of not from concentrate orange juice. These include sensory data which can be generally referred to as sweetness/tartness balance, strength of orange flavor, and the like. Also important are chemical analysis standards including total minimum solids percentage (or Brix), citric acid content, and Brix to acid ratio (or BAR). Other analysis parameters include percentage of oil and percentage of vitamin C. Even though color has been found to be very important in consumer acceptance, superior color intensity should not be achieved at the expense of these other characteristics of sensory qualities and chemical analysis standards.
When these factors are considered in connection with early season not from concentrate orange juice, it would be extremely valuable to be able to maintain these parameters and characteristics for a freshly squeezed juice blend component, while enhancing color scores which are traditionally low for early season round oranges, particularly Hamlin round oranges. In other words, while color has been determined to be an important component of consumer acceptance of orange juice, color enhancement cannot be achieved at the expense of maintaining the other characteristics of a first-class not from concentrate orange juice. It is also important that the color enhancement be achieved without the use of artificial colorants or coloring components which disqualify the orange juice product from falling within the standard of identity of not from concentrate orange juice. Otherwise, color enhancement would seriously negatively impact on the orange juice.
Accordingly, an important need exists for an approach to enhance early season color in not from concentrate orange juice without negatively impacting upon other attributes of first-class not from concentrate orange juice which provide such products with important, tangible and economically valuable benefits when compared with "from concentrate" orange juice products and the like. It is also important that color enhancement be achieved in a fully natural manner and in a way which is fully consistent with the standard of identity of not from concentrate orange juice, particularly when dealing with early season round orange harvests.
Additionally, important advantages would be realized by being able to meet the standards for freshly squeezed orange juice for not from concentrate orange juice during a time period which is earlier than that of the long-accepted early season cultivar, Hamlin round oranges. This would allow an advancement of the date by which freshly squeezed juice can be incorporated into not from concentrate orange juice, which would benefit the not from concentrate orange juice category. To do so requires that such a freshly squeezed juice source would also be able to maintain the desirable flavor characteristics during such a very early harvest time period. Accordingly, there is a need for an exceptionally early season source for freshly squeezed orange juice.